FDA Pushes Forward on Cigar Regulation

The Food and Drug Administration’s effort to regulate the premium cigar industry took a step forward recently, as the proposed rule on regulating cigars has moved from the Department of Health and Human Services to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. The OMB will analyze the rule and determine its economic impact on the industry before releasing it for public comment. The proposed rule can be viewed here.

The International Premium Cigar and Pipe Retailers Association (IPCPR) sent out an advisory to their members on Monday night, and indicated that while they anticipated the process to be initiated before the end of October, the recent government shutdown has shifted their expectations for the rule to be released before the end of November.

Kip Talley, the IPCPR’s Senior Director of Federal Legislative Affairs, told members that the organization “continue(s) to remain vigilant and are engrossed in protecting the needs of premium tobacco retailers and our industry partners.” He noted that the IPCPR will soon introduce a “customized grassroots email system to support our efforts” that will allow retailers and consumers to contact their elected officials and submit comment to the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products.

In his e-mail, Talley added that “while we do not know the detailed content of the proposed rule, we do know it has the potential to impact your small business and the premium cigar industry.”

I strive to capture the essence of a cigar and the people behind them in my work – every cigar you light up is the culmination of the work of countless people and often represents generations of struggle and stories. For me, it’s about so much more than the cigar – it’s about the story behind it, the experience of enjoying the work of artisans and the way that a good cigar can bring people together. In addition to my work with halfwheel, I’m the Spring Training public address announcer for the Colorado Rockies; a stats stringer for MLB.com, PA announcer for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, voice talent and writer, among other things. I previously covered the Phoenix and national cigar scene for Examiner.com, and was an editor for Cigar Snob magazine.

DavidHolmes1

Didn’t see anything about cigars in the proposal?

maxx

Abstract: The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (Tobacco Control Act) provides the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority to regulate cigarettes, cigarette tobacco, roll-your-own tobacco, and smokeless tobacco. The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act), as amended by the Tobacco Control Act, permits FDA to issue regulations deeming other tobacco products to be subject to the FD&C Act. This proposed rule would deem products meeting the statutory definition of “tobacco product” to be subject to the FD&C Act and would specify additional restrictions.
Tabacco product would probably include cigars.

http://www.halfwheel.com/ Patrick Lagreid

DavidHolmes1 Maxx’s response above is pretty much spot on – the FDA’s CTP is seeking to expand their regulatory domain over cigars, and the move is also likely to affect pipe tobacco, e-cigarettes/e-cigars and other tobacco products that weren’t originally included in their initial quartet of tobacco products.

DavidHolmes1

Its still making an assumption based on a broad definition. CRA and the like do good work at educating people on the differences between premium cigars and cigarettes, kids aren’t out trying to buy fifteen dollar cigars. Every year I hear about the FDA and the tyranical government trying to impede on the rights of cigar smokers, and every year there are more releases from manufacturers. This just seems like more of the same. The sun will still rise in the east and set in the west.

szyzk

DavidHolmes1

maxx

Look at the tobacco laws in Canada and Australia from plain packaging to increased taxes. The FDA will probably not outright ban tobacco because the government collects so many tobacco tax dollars, but they will make it much more expensive to buy a cigar. And yes the tyrannical government is impeding the rights of cigar smokers every day. In California it is illegal to smoke outside in some locations and in some cities you cannot cannot smoke in your own apartment in multi unit buildings. These laws are coming to your city and the FDA will expedite their implementation.

DavidHolmes1

That’s the state of California, not the federal government. In Michigan cigars have not increased in price but decreased with the implementation of a cap on cigar taxes. Also this country doesn’t follow trends set by other countries, we kind of do our own thing, sometimes to our own detriment, and no I’m not saying not doing this would be a detriment(if you can follow that last part, I don’t know).

http://www.epic-ash.com/ CigarSurgeon

“The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act” – even the title is an attempt at misleading people. Well it’s for the family, and don’t you care about the protection of family?
Folks, don’t travel down the same road we have here in Canada when it comes down to tobacco. You’ll be hiding out in your garage like a pariah.

RyanB

DaivdHolmes is pretty naive to think that the FDA would ignore cigars as ”other tobacco products”. Since when has vagueness in goverment meant anything other than a bigger umbrella from which to regulate?

http://www.halfwheel.com/ Patrick Lagreid

szyzk DavidHolmes1 About a week ago, there was a rash of news articles all centered around this AP story: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/22/flavored-cigars-teens-small-kids-candy_n_4144464.html
I hate to think how many people will read that without thinking or knowing anything about the premium cigar industry and push for further regulation.

DavidHolmes1

Its not that I think they won’t try, its that I think they won’t succeed. I signed the CRA’s petition, I contacted my congress members, what else can I do?

http://www.halfwheel.com/ Patrick Lagreid

DavidHolmes1 I have to take issue with your statement about the threat of increased FDA regulation and that cigar makers releasing more and more cigars. There isn’t a single manufacturer worth their tobacco that isn’t incredibly concerned about potential FDA regulation. I was talking with Glynn Loope of CRA recently about the FDA’s “substantial equivalent” requirement that they currently have for cigarettes, and he mentioned that a cigarette manufacturer had to submit a product for approval simply because they changed paper suppliers. Extrapolating that a bit, the ramifications for the cigar industry are a huge question mark: if the leaves for a blend started coming from a different farm, or a different lot on the same farm, would that cigar be required to be submitted for reapproval?
What you don’t mention is that even with this looming FDA regulation, there is still business to be conducted. Consumers are still buying cigars and asking for new products, new companies are being launched, and market share is still being fought for on a daily basis. The industry hasn’t stopped because of this threat – it’s being forced to fight off another threat while still dealing with the normal challenges of business.
If nothing less, FDA regulation of cigars has the potential to drastically shake up the way the cigar industry does business and it will likely be felt at every step of the process, from production to purchase at retail. If the FDA moves ahead and regulates premium cigars, you will most certainly feel it.

http://www.halfwheel.com/ Patrick Lagreid

DavidHolmes1 Get your friends (both cigar smokers and non-cigar smokers) to contact their representatives, write more letters, become a CRA ambassador, talk to your local cigar shops and organize letter writing campaigns, contact other representatives who are on CRA’s list of likely supporters.

DavidHolmes1

You make it sound as if I’m portraying myself as some expert on the cigar industry. I’m speaking from a consumers stand point, I’m merely trying to engage in a constructive conversation. I’m not a closed minded individual, if new information presents itself, I’m capable of changing my stance on a subject. However I don’t automatically assume whatever I hear is true, especially when the information is provided by a source with a preverbial “dog in the fight”, that would be like gettingall my information from msnbc or fox news. I do believe there is a threat, how big of one I don’t really know. What do I have to do, to help people understand the difference between a swisher sweet or a black & mild, and a premium cigar. Past petioning my congress people, what more can I do?

szyzk

Patrick Lagreid I’ll echo my previous statements made elsewhere… #1 This needs to be controlled at the store level. The onus is on the retailer, and as a retailer let me say that it’s not difficult to keep kids out of the store. #2 There is a lot of attention paid to teens & cigars but I still think 100 out of 100 students would be able to correctly identify Jack Daniels while incorrectly identifying Arturo Fuente. #3 Despite all of that, it amazes me how many cigar smokers still refuse to lift their finger to further our cause and protect our enjoyment of premium tobacco.